EDITORIAL: Come cheer for the home team

The marquee names are gone, but there are still reasons to be a Quakers hoops fan. Think these were random flukes? Well, Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney are playing in the NBA now -- and Maloney's starting on the first-place Houston Rockets, alongside Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Hakeen Olajuwon. Although Tim Krug and Ira Bowman have also graduated, giving up on the Red and Blue and leaving the storied Palestra bleachers half empty on game nights this winter would be so? Princetonian. Last year, as freshmen, Frank Brown and Paul Romanczuk were only able to give fans a glimpse of what they can do on the court. Sophomore Jed Ryan is said to have potential, too. Junior Garett Kreitz can sink three-pointers like they were lay-ups, and his classmate, Rice transfer George Mboya, will finally be able to see serious playing time this year. In addition, lone senior Jamie Lyren's broken foot has finally healed. To these solid returning players, coach Fran Dunphy has brought an an outstanding recruiting class, including Michael Jordan, Matt Langel and Geoff Owens. For these nine reasons, it's all the more depressing that so few students have bought season tickets to men's basketball -- or have even shown interest in the Quakers this winter. The action begins tonight, with a non-conference game against Towson State University, but the five guys who will be out on the hardwood will still be looking for their first regular-season win. If you've got tickets, use them tonight and scream yourself hoarse in the process. If you don't have tickets, get them on the Walk between classes today -- what could be easier? It would be embarrassing indeed if Towson fans from Maryland were a larger presence in the Palestra tonight than hometown devotees.